Racing games are a dime a dozen — avid gamers can find copies of “Burnout 3” next to “Midnight Club2,” which are piled over the superfluous copies of “Need for Speed Underground.”

Having to sort through the large number of racing games is also a challenge — different racing games are targeted at different crowds, from the fast and furious arcade racers to the NASCAR fans.

But one series has always stood above the rest — “Gran Turismo.” This acclaim is a bit confusing because the series only specifically targets one group of fans — the truly dedicated.

Now in its fourth incarnation, “Gran Turismo 4” plays it safe and sticks to what the series has always done best — luscious graphics wrapped around the most realistic presentation of true racing.

For those who are already fans of the series, go ahead and buy the game, if you haven’t already. But for those who have always wanted to try it — or gamers who have never heard of it — “Gran Turismo 4” will treat you to the closest experience that could actually resemble what it really feels like to go screaming through the German countryside at 150 mph.

There’s a positive and negative side to that statement. The positive side definitely rests with the game’s graphics — simply put, no one has ever seen graphics like this on Playstation 2.

Each track is carefully detailed, such as the New York City track, where racers fly through Times Square, sun beaming down on them.

The sense of speed is amazing. Each road is finely detailed, from the burn marks surrounding each tight turn to the carefully painted finish line. When a gamer is racing in one of the nearly 700 licensed cars — from Ford to Mitsubishi to BMW — through these streets, it’s not hard for the racers to imagine they’re actually there.

That being said, the game’s ultra-realism is also a curse — it only rewards racers who are willing to dedicate lots of time and patience to running each course over and over again.

In a race among evenly matched cars, it’s easy for a racer to screw up one single turn and be left eating dust for the rest of the time.

Also frustrating is the game’s lack of dedication in two key areas — crashing and artificial intelligence. For whatever reason, even though the game’s designers strive for realism, it’s still possible to run straight into a brick wall at ridiculous speeds and come away without a scratch on the car. Could this be because the developers don’t want to annoy the companies that allowed their cars’ licensing?

What’s even more frustrating are the opponents. Instead of reacting when a racer cuts them off or slides past them, the computer keeps to the exact same course, lap after lap. It becomes very easy for the gamer to use these flaws to his or her advantage to bank on tight curves or push past opponents on straightaways.

Despite some glaring flaws, “Gran Turismo 4” still stands out from all other racing games because of polished graphics and tight control.

The sense of realism is stronger in this game than any other, but the unbelievably high learning curve of “Gran Turismo 4” will leave casual gamers in the dark.